Two charged after more than 40 people arrested at weekend protests in London

A man and a woman have been charged after 43 arrests were made at two separate protests in central London on Saturday, police have said.

Stuart Adams, 49, of Merton, south London, has pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting racially abusive remarks at a Metropolitan Police officer.

Adams, who appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, was arrested at Tommy Robinson's Unite the Kingdom demonstration.

Suleman Hussain, prosecuting, said the officer told him Adams's face was "contorted in anger" and, on hearing his remarks, he felt "upset" and "sad" and did not want to continue policing the rally.

Adams also shouted "f*** Keir Starmer" and "let's have a fight" at officers standing around a cordon outside Downing Street, the court heard.

Dara Harbison, 26, from Brighton, is charged with allegedly assaulting an emergency worker, criminal damage and possession of cannabis while attending the pro-Palestine Nakba Day rally.

She is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in July.

Both demonstrations took place in central London but were kept apart by police as around 4,000 officers, supported by armoured vehicles, police horses and dogs, and drones, were deployed to the protests and the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Last week, the Met forecast the huge operation would cost £4.5m, with £1.7m spent on bringing 660 officers from other police forces across England and Wales to the capital to help.

Met officers arrested another man on Monday on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred.

It is alleged the 28-year-old, from Plymouth, was pictured at the Nakba Day rally holding a sign that called for people to be hanged, the force said.

Read more:
Breakdown of protests arrests
'Unprecedented' police operation - as it happened

So far, one person among those arrested has been recalled to prison, 25 released on bail, three told they will face no further action, three released under investigation, and two charged with failing to appear at court for previous offences not linked to the protests.

Four penalty notices for disorder were also issued, three for urination and one to someone who drunkenly called police officers "tossers".

About 60,000 people are estimated to have joined the Unite the Kingdom march, and between 15,000 and 20,000 attended the Nakba Day rally, the Met said.

Of the 43 arrests made, 20 were linked to the Unite the Kingdom protest, while 12 were affiliated with the Nakba protest.

The other 11 arrests were not linked to either group, or their affiliation has not been confirmed, the force added.

Live facial recognition cameras were also used at a location in Camden that police said was likely to be used by a lot of protesters attending the Unite the Kingdom rally.

A previous Unite the Kingdom demonstration in September saw ugly clashes with police.

(c) Sky News 2026: Two charged after more than 40 people arrested at weekend protests in London